System and method for simultaneous search service and email search

Abstract

A system and related techniques execute search queries against both remote Internet or other search services, as well as local or remote email stores. A user may access a search service Web site or other search interface, and enter search inputs or terms. That search input may be transmitted to a remote search service via the Internet or other network, as well as through access logic which communicates the same search inputs to the user's local or remote email store. Web sites as well as email messages or other content that matches the search input may be retrieved both from the remote search service as well as the email store, and presented to the user in combined or separate fashion. The access logic may manage the transmission of necessary authentication credentials to remote servers or otherwise to access and retrieve the email portion of the results. According to embodiments, email search results may be cached to improve access time and integration with results retrieved from the search service.

1 . A system for generating search results, comprising: 
 an input interface to receive search input; and    an access engine, the engine communicating with the input interface to receive the search input and manage the distribution of the search input to at least one email store and at least one search service, and manage the presentation of a set of search results received from the at least one email store and at least one search service.    
   
   
       2 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one email store comprises at least one local email store hosted in a client.  
   
   
       3 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one email store comprises at least one remote networked email store.  
   
   
       4 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one email store comprises a plurality of email stores.  
   
   
       5 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the search service comprises at least one of a public Internet search service and a private network search service.  
   
   
       6 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the presentation of the set of search results comprises a ranked list of matches in a interleaved fashion based on a unified ranking of relevance from the at least one email store and the at least one search service.  
   
   
       7 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the access engine accesses a cache to return matches associated with the at least one email store.  
   
   
       8 . A method for generating search results, comprising: 
 receiving search input; and    managing the distribution of the search input to at least one email store and at least one search service; and    managing the presentation of a set of search results received from the at least one email store and at least one search service.    
   
   
       9 . A method according to  claim 8 , wherein the at least one email store comprises at least one local email store hosted in a client.  
   
   
       10 . A method according to  claim 8 , wherein the at least one email store comprises at least one remote networked email store.  
   
   
       11 . A method according to  claim 8 , wherein the at least one email store comprises a plurality of email stores.  
   
   
       12 . A method according to  claim 8 , wherein the search service comprises at least one of a public Internet search service and a private network search service.  
   
   
       13 . A method according to  claim 8 , wherein the managing the presentation of the set of search results comprises generating a ranked list of matches from the at least one email store and the at least one search service.  
   
   
       14 . A method according to  claim 8 , further comprising processing a set of credentials to authenticate access to the at least one email store.  
   
   
       15 . A set of search results, the set of search results being generated by a method comprising: 
 receiving search input; and    managing the distribution of the search input to at least one email store and at least one search service; and    managing the presentation of a set of search results received from the at least one email store and at least one search service.    
   
   
       16 . A set of search results according to  claim 8 , wherein the at least one email store comprises at least one local email store hosted in a client.  
   
   
       17 . A set of search results according to  claim 8 , wherein the at least one email store comprises at least one remote networked email store.  
   
   
       18 . A set of search results according to  claim 8 , wherein the at least one email store comprises a plurality of email stores.  
   
   
       19 . A set of search results according to  claim 8 , wherein the search service comprises at least one of a public Internet search service and a private network search service.  
   
   
       20 . A set of search results according to  claim 8 , wherein the managing the presentation of the set of search results comprises generating a ranked list of matches from the at least one email store and the at least one search service.